A blog that focuses on Louisiana and Texas retail and commercial developments.

Friday, August 14, 2009

The Houston Pavilions

Welcome to the Houston Pavilions. This is a three level lifestyle center in the heart of downtown Houston that opened up in late 2008. The center was built to cater to the downtown population and draw traffic from the discovery green park. This center was built just two blocks away from the Houston Center. The Houston Center has a better location in between five office towers and it is only one block away from the park. The Houston Center is also an established mall that has been in business over 25 years. The Pavilions has an advantage in that it is directly off of the downtown light rail line and closer to the bulk of the downtown skyscrapers. The House of Blues is a good draw for the nighttime club hoppers and there are many new restaurants in development at the center on the first floor. The retail seems to be struggling here with only the Books a Million, Forever 21, and Max Azara open for retail sales, but if the clubs keep coming this place will really help out the downtown nightlife.

Here are a few shots from the Wells Fargo Plaza's 59th floor or the center.

Books a Million and Forever 21 are anchors here, but they both are at the same end of the center. The House of Blues is at the other end. One of the issues with the center is that the first floor has a street going through it in two places making it a difficult to cross there. You have to go to a crosswalk or go up to the second floor to cross the street.

The hallways of the upper floors are mainly empty, but the first floor is about 50% full. There is an office tower connected to this center that will bring more lunch traffic to the area when the building is rented out.

Just visited Houston and stayed at the Marriott across the street from the Houston Pavillion. This is a great addition to the area. The restaurants that are open are doing very well. Had dinner at McCormick & Schmick's and the place was full. There were lines at the entrance of the House of Blues for the full week we were in town. The newly opened Mexican restaurant was also hopping. Went shopping which also included Macy's across the street. This pavillion is also located on the light rail. These developers knew what they were doing. The architecture is modern and inviting. This area is a great addition for the residents of Houston as well as us visitors. Looking forward to visiting again next year knowing this shopping/entertainment area is only getting better as more tenants move in.